CFL holding 'internal discussions' about broadcast of Ticats home game at McMaster University
The Hamilton Tiger Cats home game on July 31 should have been a huge boost for the team and the CFL.
It was scheduled to be the first Canadian football game played on the main ESPN network under a new five-year deal minted between the television sports giant and the CFL. It would give the league and Canadian game huge exposure to a massive, football-mad U.S. audience.
Everyone that is a CFL fan needs to contact the CFL as well as TSN, DEMANDING All Tigercat games be broadcast. If Sportsnet can broadcast games from Mac in HD, then TSN can as well.
Lets all get on them before a negative decision is made!! I've already sent emails.
Hopefully the Cats can also put some pressure to bear. :rockin:
I really hope they switch it to another game. There are enough people willing to piss on the CFL as it is. Giving major US exposure to a game in front of 6000 fans would reinforce all sorts of negative stereotypes about Canada and the CFL and make a terrible first impression. I really hope this "showcase" game isn't a compromised Ron Joyce Stadium game.
There are enough people willing to **** on the CFL as it is.
Well safety, this is Canada and we don't have a huge population, we are trying to make a go out of a pro football league and I think people ought to be very proud of what we, as Canadians, have accomplished with the CFL. If they feel embarrassed because it's not the "big time" American majors, too bad. Ron Joyce will do just fine in the interim, that's the way it is. If people want to laugh, to heck with them.
The issue is its a major recruiting tool for the league. Better the players, better the league. As well, the city that hosts the game will get exposure that no amount of advertising $ could match.
My guess is they will move the TOR/MTL game to Thursday July31 and the ticats home game to Friday Aug1 which is only on TSN (no ESPN/ESPN2). Easy flip because they start at the same time. Winnipeg can't take the game because of the JayZ show. This is a BIG loss for hamilton.
Not so sure the Argos would be too thrilled with that. They play late Saturday July 26 in Regina - so would be flying home to Toronto on the 27th. Three days later they would be off to Montreal for a game the next night on the 31st. So already a slightly short week would become a very short week and they would be playing a well rested Montreal team coming off a bye week.
If they move a scheduled game because of American television the CFL is more of a laughing stock then televising the game at MAC. Talk about inferiority complex... Change the broadcast if you must but move the game? We've missed long stretches of games because of our own network issues, and we're gonna move games for ESPN?
That’s an excellent point. It is one thing to have a flex schedule like the NFL has to put the best match-up late in the year on Sunday Night prime time on NBC - we’re gonna flex our sked for ESPN for a better stadium??? And yes that would get written up in every sports blog and more people would likely read about the CFL doing that than who will actually watch the game.
Broadcast the game from Mac. If the games good it will sell itself. It's not like viewers will turn it off because of the stadium size. I think viewers who watch the game will do so because they're already familiar with the CFL and like it or they've heard about it and are curious or there's nothing else on and it's raining, who knows.
Exactly Aqualung, there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and in fact quite the opposite, McMaster is a top ranked university in North America, heck maybe even the world with some academic programs, and the fact is Ron Joyce is a nice facility regardless of the size. Think about it, the NFL had the Super Bowl at the Metrodome at 63,000 I think it was. That's the Super Bowl! This is a regular season CFL game and due to construction issues for the most part, a contingency plan has to be made and the local CFL team wishes to play out of the best alternative local stadium. Ron Joyce is a fairly new facility, no track and a beautiful campus. Everyone including the city of Hamilton should be proud to have this game broadcast on whatever network, Canadian or American, in front of as many viewers as possible. It's also a chance for some advertising for Mac for their academic departments showing clips of labs, recreation etc.
And I would love to see some halftime or pre-game interview or what notwith the president of McMaster and Bob Young and maybe the Mayor having a chat and showing some solidarity of Hamilton as "one". That would be excellent IMHO.
McMaster continues to rank among the world’s top 100
It's not a matter of "shame", it's a matter of simple messages and perception. To the casual ESPN viewer, the message would be: "Look how small that crowd is. Even in Canada nobody cares about this stuff. Too bad real football hasn't started yet. What else is on? [click]" The fact that the perception is out of line with reality will not prevent it from damaging the CFL brand.
The CFL brand is damaged already in the minds of those who can't open up their minds to want to enjoy football for what it is whatever league and for those only the big time NFL and big time NCAA programs suffice. Even new stadiums in Canada like THF that will seat in the 22,000-25,000 doesn't cut it for those "sorts" and never will, has to be "big" American style stuff to count.
It's time for those of us who are willing to stand up and stand tall and be proud (reminds me of that Pride Parade ) and be proud that we can enjoy great football in a variety of stadiums here in Canada and not be worried. As I say, the CFL and Canadian football brand is and has been damaged forever in the minds of closed-minded people who can only enjoy football in one particular way. True non-multitaskers.
This is the time to be proud and be strong and be as "one".
And the Rolling Stones don't mind a small club atmosphere here and there!
look at these stupid examples people are giving us to why its ok for the game to be played…
haha. Ya post it on the front page on the globe and mail so all the americans that read it will know why the game isn’t even at a real stadium.
Or how about this. Have the broadcasters at TSN tell everyone? well that would work but 2 things.
they would have tell the audience this every 5 minutes because most people will not be tuning in from the start so the chances are 99% people will miss that message.
many will be watching the game at locations that may not even have sound. many might not even pay attention or care whats happening to the stadium. The Oakland Raiders wouldn’t be playing at a division 3 football stadium.
this is the point. if you don’t understand then you just don’t know. And you will never know. Cause you don’t know.
What is Hilarious about this situation is many think that a large American broadcaster like ESPN is even going to be remotely interested in televising through their Canadian Partners of TSN a CFL game played at a facility like McMaster University and Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton that holds 6,000 fans??? Give your heads a shake people, most High School Football programs in the USA and stadiums hold more people and the Cats might sell this as a nice intimate atmosphere to watch a game, it's a safety fix for a screw up of politics that's exactly what it is!!!
Also, Know one wants to accept blame for it, even many fans say, oh politics has nothing to do with it?? Yah keep telling yourself that, wait until tax payers get the final bill on the Pan Am Games than we'll talk, the Auditor of Ontario has already said we are Millions and soon to be Billions in the hole!!
WBBB is clearly suffering from stadium envy and should probably just give in to his deepest, darkest desires and watch the NFL.They have great big stadiums that hold way more than 6000 people, even more than 24,000 people. Why some of their stadiums hold up to 80,000 PEOPLE! They have video screens that are bigger than a Canadian Football League end zone, private boxes that are nicer than most peoples houses and half time shows that feature Jay Z and Beyonce. Now that's football the way it's meant to be seen.
I hate when people use this reference. "most highschool stadiums" in the US are not bigger than 6000 seats. rather maybe only half of stadiums in texas are. every other state has stadiums 500 to 4000 seats. Have you been to buffalo ny or detroit michigan and seen the quality and size of their high school stadiums? my former highschool stadium in hamilton as well as 2 more high school fields seats more than their stadiums.
you must have gone to a small high school. most usa high schools seat anywhere from small end 1,500 (at a state, small town, or poorer hs in big city) to avg 4,000, to the elite 6,000 with standing room
) and be proud that we can enjoy great football in a variety of stadiums here in Canada and not be worried. As I say, the CFL and Canadian football brand is and has been damaged forever in the minds of closed-minded people who can only enjoy football in one particular way. True non-multitaskers.